Mining Matters

Year 10 Day 148
Latest News - The entire galaxies mining stopped by a bug...

It emerged earlier this week that mining would be impossible for the next few days due to a mass infestation of Rudic Beetles. A species discovered in the early months of this year, was thought to be no more than a nuisance when they were first sighted on remote mining colonies. However, evidence has come to light that a Bulk Freighter, which had been adapted with hidden storage, ferried several hives of Rudic beetles back to the core worlds where the abundance of food led to a population boom and mass occurrence of the species. There is still no word as to why a mining freighter was fitted with hidden compartments, but police still believe that this event was an accident.

The Rudic Beetle itself is known for it's rock hard outer shell, generated by the consumption of Lommite, it's extremely quick reproductive cycle and it's tendency to be unable to distinguish support girder from rock, eating anything it deems to fall within it's mineral diet. This fact, coupled with an average hive size of 600 means that mines everywhere have collapsed or otherwise been rendered unusable until the infestations have been cleared.

Miners are advised that manually removing the beetles is possible, but urge everyone to be patient. The Universal Council is currently working on distributing a galaxy wide 'patch' that can be adhered to the inner wall of a mine to secrete a chemical believed to cause the beetles to harden, converting them back into the rock they have digested. It is unknown when the patch will be ready, nor how quickly it can be dispersed across the galaxy but officials are hoping that this will be a 'fast and effective cure to an unnecessary problem'.

John Drako, Mining Matters.

Year 10 Day 154
News Update - The entire galaxies mining still stopped by a bug...

There has been increased call for the 'patch' being developed by the Universal Council, since it emerged that simply clearing away beetle hives was not a sufficient enough measure to allow mining to once again continue. It seems that while Rudic Beetles were removed for a period they then later returned in far greater numbers, stopping mining once more. This has caused havoc within the many mining companies of the galaxy and it seems that the tragedy doesn't stop there. The beetles have been reported to have taken to digesting the many prospecting vehicles scattered across the surface of mining planets, decimating their internal circuitry and rendering them useless. It is speculated by many scientists that the patch designed to vacate the beetles from mines can be used on afflicted vehicles also, however it is unknown if the patch will cover this aspect of the infestation.

Year 10 Day 162
Quantum prices double as buying panic sets in.

Yesterday saw the standard selling price for Quantum double as constructors desperate to complete projects snapped up what reserves they could get their hands on. Less than one standard day after the sale the entire set of standard raw material prices on the Endara Mining Corporation website have doubled and President Turner hasn't ruled out further rises.

“As our stockpiles are being bought up, supply and demand dictates that our prices must rise..” This statement added fuel to the fears that the Rudic Beetle problem may well be the next big push forwards for hyperinflation. If the solution to the menace can't be found we may well see a widening of the gap between the rich and the poor. The established government worlds continue to live in prosperity where outlying worlds will be unable to develop any further. Furthermore the problem may be exasperated when smaller mining companies, unable to handle not selling raw materials start going under, or are dissolved due to a lack of interest. Which flows onto production factions seizing up the economy.

Although there is a glimmer of hope that the Rudic Beetle may indeed be close to being eradicated. Scientists are researching how the Rudic Beetle reproduces and are confident the next major outbreak should provide them with some answers, which may lead them to stopping their reproductive cycle. If a solution is found, implementation would be almost simultaneous across the galaxy but some are just hoping that the problem has just solved itself.

Danakin Turner is set to revise the Endara Mining Corporation's pricing regularly in the coming standard days. He also issued the following statement, “Please be patient, everyone is desperate for raw materials, and our orders have flooded our office. Not everyone can receive materials as we seem to have more requests than materials already. Although, we believe there are some requests that we will choose not fill. Some, who had quotations earlier may also find themselves at the back of the queue as we always provide the best service to Hapes, then the highest bidder.”